Chapter 21 Nortil (part 1)

"Huam."

I yawned when the train finally stopped moving. I looked out the window briefly; it was very early in the morning, the sun was barely visible on the horizon.

I rubbed my eyes a little bit and turned my gaze to Alice, who also looked out the window. Clara and Dik, on the other hand, just looked at the floor of the train with cold eyes, saying nothing. They seemed like two people without emotions, but the one I least cared about was Dik. I didn't trust him, but I didn't have proof that he couldn't be trusted either. I just followed my instincts and Encrid's suggestion.

"It's time."

We got off the train when Alicia talked. The outside was warm, no cold trail, as if it were five or six in the morning.

I looked around; it was an old-style train station, with nothing particularly interesting.

A few minutes passed and we were in the middle of the streets. I didn't know where we were going; I just followed Alice, who was walking quickly in front of the group, as if she was trying to get to a place immediately.

"Where are we going?"

"We'il go to the other side of town."

"Why?"

"That's where the demon manna was wandering a few days ago."

"I see."

I asked her and she answered quickly. In the face of a situation with a being called a demon, in all stories it is urgent to go where he was, find a trace of him and finally defeat him. It was very cliché in all the stories I read in my past life, so I could imagine what we would do.

We keep walking, and we finally get there. The area was a field of cultivation, with many people harvesting crops. At one point I thought we'd never get there and that we were just walking off course, but I trusted Alice.

On the other hand, Clara, although she could only see her green eyes, could not see her face completely. Even so, I could trust her, even though she hid her face, but so did I, wearing a mask right now.

We arrived at a large barn, very large. A middle-aged man was sitting, looking tired from the sweat drops falling from his face.

Alicia was the one who got close. I didn't know why we walked directly to this place and we got directly to that person, who was definitely a farmer. Alice sketched a smile when her lips opened.

"We've come for your request," Alice said.

The man looked up.

"Did you accept the request I sent to the kingdom?"

"That's right. If it is a demon, the kingdom can act very quickly, and in this case we accept the request."

"Then can you tell us where the demon manna was?"

"It's a little far away, so follow me."

The man rose from the ground and began to walk towards the field. There was a forest ahead of the field; it looked familiar, but...

I remembered the map Josephine had given me. I looked it up in my pocket and I took it out.

"Pueblo de Nortil, and right next to this village is that forest called 'Dry Forest'. There could be something in that place," I thought as I looked into the forest in the distance. It looked like a normal forest, but I felt something strange.

It was a very strange feeling; something was not normal in that forest. I closed my eyes and tried to sense manna in that place.

"..."

"What the hell is that?"

I couldn't see the manna in the woods, but I sensed a very aggressive manna. It showed a red color, it looked like blood, and I could even smell it; a very unpleasant and stinking smell.

That red manna was a little far away, but as we walked, I was getting closer and closer to that manna. When my thoughts stopped, we were facing the red manna. I looked at the farmer; he had stopped.

"This is where the demon manna was."

That was demonic manna; that explained the displeasure I felt when I saw it.

"Back off," Clara finally spoke. She noticed the presence of the demon manna.

Although I had felt it from far away and far before, I didn't want them to believe I could see that manna. Part of it was because this group thought I was a sword user and not a magician.

"Is something wrong?" Alice asked when Clara alerted.

"There is still demon manna; it is very strong."

"Damn, can you find a way or something to divert the manna? Only then can we know if the devil is not far away."

"I think... it's heading for the Dry Forest."

We can't go in there right now."

Why can't they go into that forest? It's true I have a strange feeling about him, but what's in that place for Alice to say that? There's something I don't know. Something that could be for the devil or something much worse.

"How strong is manna? Is it possible that the devil is a 'demonic lord'?"

Mr. Demonic, what do you mean by that? Is it a title for a demon or is it a rank? But why does the rank sound like that of the nobles?

I kept watching while Alicia and Clara were talking.

"He's a demon lord."

"Damn, we have to get ready."

The atmosphere wasn't very normal. How bad is this 'demonic gentleman? Is it really necessary to prepare for a demon alone? It's true they must be very strong, but it shouldn't be that strong.

"It's very dangerous," said the middle-aged man.

"Of course, he's a demon of rank 'sir'. These demons are stronger than ordinary monsters."

Is the situation really that bad then?

"I suggest you start evacuating. It's not safe to be near the Dry Forest at the moment."

"But if we do that, what about the crops? We can't leave them like this."

It was a very difficult question. To stop harvesting by a demon alone brings a lot of risk, as a field of cultivation cannot be stopped.

"I'm sorry, but... The situation is not so good for you to worry about growing. The demon is of 'sir' rank and we can't leave it like that."

Although I didn't know how serious it was, I could see Alice's worried face. This 'demonic gentleman' is definitely dangerous. Although he could not know clearly, that face knew him very well, a face of concern.

***

— Change of scene.

We're going back to the center of Northil. Many things happened, such as the evacuation of all farmers and the harvest that took place as quickly as possible. The day was almost over, but I kept thinking about that forest.

Above all, my thoughts were quite on the subject of the devil. How strong is a demon lord? What are the ranks of demons?

Dungeons, wizards, knights and demons had their respective ranks. In the case of magicians, they were circles; in dungeons, they were degrees, from 9 to 1, and the lower the number, the more dangerous the dungeon. Gentlemen have five ranks. So, what's the range of demons?

A total of four of these categories had their ranks, but did not know that of demons.

We were in a house. We paid for one night, so the group was sitting in front of me and arguing about the demon.

"We must be prepared. This is a 'sir' rank demon. It will not be easy to defeat him."

"Although it's strong, we don't know where it's located," Clara and Alicia were discussing the demon issue. Dik, on the other hand, simply observed the situation in silence, without moving his eyes or taking any other action.

I finally decided to join the conversation. I had a question I needed to ask: I wanted to know about the ranks of demons. I didn't know what they were or how powerful they could be.

"What ranks do demons have?"

There was a brief silence in the room.

"I thought you knew the ranks of demons," Alice was disappointed by my question.

I didn't care what they thought of me; I just had no information about demons.

I sighed. "The demons have six ranks: Lord, Baron, Viscount, Count, Marquis and Duke."

I was surprised that the ranks were the same as the titles of nobility. Was there any connection or was it just a coincidence that these ranks were the same as those of the nobles? In the case of nobles, titles were honorable, but for demons, they were ranks of power.

"I know what you're thinking, but originally these ranks belonged to the demons. Then the nobles adopted them as titles because it was a convenient way to measure power among them," Alice explained.

It was strange, but it made sense now.

So, if "Sir" is the lowest rank among demons, why is this group so concerned? Is this demon really that powerful?

I scratched my cheek, I watched Clara, but she didn't even look at me. I didn't know why, but I felt he didn't like me.

"So, what are we going to do? When will we go after the devil?" I asked.

To my question, Alicia answered: "We'll look for him tomorrow. We still don't know where he is and we need to prepare some things."

Alicia definitely thought things through, until a voice came in.

"How stupid... We should go right now... Fucking bastards."

At the end of his words, Dik looked at me with a frown. I didn't know why he did that, but I ignored him and turned my eyes to Alice.

"You're always an idiot."

Alice spoke as if such situations often occur. I could have known just by Alice's reaction when Dik spoke so arrogant.

My eyes were on Clara, but this time she was staring at me. He didn't say a word, but he was watching me, rather than looking, he could see his green eyes exploring every part of my body as if he was evaluating my condition.

"I opened my eyes when he mentioned the word 'wizard'. How did you know? Encrid had hidden my manna and all my magic. Not even the director of the Laosa Academy, who is a ninth-circle magician, could see my manna.

How did you know?

"You're a magician," Alice said when I looked at her, her face was surprised.

I looked at Dik, who just stared at me with a frown.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but you can keep it a secret for at least six months..."

"Okay, but why are you looking to be a gentleman if you can get into Laosa Academy?"

"About that... I can't tell you anything about it."

Although he trusted Alicia and Clara, Dik was listening in silence at this time. I couldn't just say I'm a commoner and I need to be a gentleman so I can become a nobleman so I can enter that academy.

I couldn't say any of that so easily.

"All right, we won't ask anymore."

I looked back at Clara and she kept looking at me.

"What is the elemental magic you possess?"

That was a very interesting question. Darkness is an element, but would you believe in a dark wizard?

"Don't say anything about the manna of darkness," said Encrid quickly; he hadn't spoken all day.

"Why?"

"Tell them you have the electrical element."

I followed Encrid's words and answered Clara's question, although I didn't know why Encrid wanted to hide this manna.

"Electric element."

"I see."

Although she spoke in a not so surprised tone, her face was the opposite, and she was definitely jealous.

The wind whistled as it entered through the windows of the house. It was a three-bedroom house, a bathroom and a kitchen; we had rented it only for one night, as we would not stay long in that village. Once we solve the demon issue, my next goal may be the opposite of what this group of three decided.

"Tomorrow we'll go find the devil, we'll look for him at noon," were Alice's last words before she got up from the seat and headed for one of the rooms.

Dik was next, but he just walked out of the house and locked the door tight. The silence filled the place when Clara stared at me; her hand turned to the hood that was still hiding her face.

My eyes opened when I saw his face completely.

"Tum. Tum. "Tum"

For some reason, my heart gave three additional beats for two seconds, but then returned to normal.

Her green eyes, her long hair falling down to her waist, the color of her eyes, and her hair equal both green, but her face was the most striking: a face that radiated beauty.

"I think I'll go to my room," his words resonated as he came out of my thoughts. I watched his back as he entered one of the rooms.

"I suppose I'll do the same," I got up and walked into one of the rooms…